08/01/2025
🥶🐴 Exercising your horses in the cold weather - reduce the risk of injury! 🐴🥶
Did you know that horses are more prone to injuries during the winter months? Here’s a few reasons why:
🔵 Reduced turnout means more time stood still, meaning stiff joints and soft tissue/muscles aren’t as loose
⚪️ Hacking is reduced and we tend to work more in arenas
🔵 Surfaces can be wet and deep, making soft tissue strains more likely
⚪️ Muscles become tense and stiff in the cold
The best thing you can do to protect your horse from injury is keep their exercise as regular as possible. Here’s a few of our Dos and Don’ts to help you:
✅ DO make sure you warm your horse up properly when exercising. You need at least 10 minutes of warm-up work before asking for anything more strenuous
✅ DO make sure you turn out as much as possible - if this isn’t possible, make use of a walker or add hand walking in to keep joints and soft tissues mobile
✅ DO use an exercise blanket on clipped horses until they have warmed up
❌ DON’T ride on frozen surfaces - you will increase the risk of concussion-type injuries and they can also be uneven
❌ DON’T over-exercise your horse past its current fitness level - this may be less than in summer!
We’d love to hear any tips you have on how you make it through the winter months - share them below 👇
On a brighter note, we’re now well past the shortest day - hang on in there! 💙
